Community Issue: Homelessness of Veterans

Homelessness of Veterans
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Homelessness of Veterans
In most cities in the United States, one does not have to walk far before encountering homeless members of the populace. These individuals lack proper housing, self-safety, secure sources of sustenance, and access to preventive healthcare (Moranda, 2020). Individuals who suffer from this problem describe it as an incurable virus owing to the myriad of adversities that go with it. For instance, they are prone to such exploitations as murder and forced prostitution, among other crimes. In short, they literally struggle to survive.
The problem does not discriminate, and people from all races, religions or sexual orientations can fall victim. One significant group of homeless people is homeless veterans. These are American individuals who served in different wars and military operations but now cannot afford decent accommodations owing to a combination of factors. Some fundamental factors that contribute to veterans being homeless include lack of income, substance abuse, mental illnesses, and a lack of family and social support networks. According to Moranda (2020), substance use remains an outstanding contributor to homelessness among veterans. As such, more focus must be directed toward rehabilitating veterans by offering them accommodation and requisite treatment.
Honorably and Dishonorably Discharged Veterans
One of the most prominent needs homeless veterans have is a well-structured program that provides basic healthcare, proper housing, and nutritional meals. In this regard, the Veterans Affairs (VA) introduced a program to provide veterans with housing services and access to medical social workers. The department of Veterans Affairs (VA) runs programs that benefit veterans and their family members. Other services offered by VA include pensions, GI bill for education, and home loan assistance, among others (Law for Veterans, 2022). However, to qualify for these benefits, the VA factors in the kind of discharge veterans had. Veterans with an honorable discharge qualify for the benefits. Honorable discharge means the officers competently discharged their duties. It also means that they followed the stipulated rules and laws.
On the flip side, those with a dishonorable discharge undergo some vetting process to determine whether they qualify for the benefits. Dishonorable discharge is often undesirable, and it generally happens when the conduct of service members results in punishment following the violation of the stipulated rules and laws governing the military. Examples of conduct that warrant dishonorable discharge include security violations, arrest and conviction by civilian authorities, drug violations, and abuse of power (Law for Veterans, 2022). More often than not, such a discharge disqualifies veterans from the veterans' benefits. However, in exceptional situations, VA officials may decide otherwise, and after reviewing the discharge, a veteran may receive medical benefits.
Relevance of Homelessness to Public Health
Homelessness presents myriad adversities that make the problem a health issue that relevant stakeholders should address with expediency. For instance, the unsanitary conditions of homeless shelters make homeless individuals susceptible to various health hazards. First, they stand a relatively high risk of contracting skin disorders that result from exposure to harsh conditions. In addition, homeless people often suffer from malnutrition because they seldom get enough nutritious food. By the same token, homeless individuals suffer from psychological trauma. This may result from losing the lucrative lifestyles they were used to before. In addition, it may result from traumatic ordeals like rape, which is prevalent among homeless people. Last but not least, homelessness exposes people to sexually transmitted illnesses such as HIV/AIDS (Sleet & Francescutti, 2021). In short, homeless people stand high risks of contracting numerous diseases, which poses an enormous problem to the health sector. In the same vein, they can be a conduit of communicable diseases, such as tuberculosis and COVID-19.
Because of the condescending treatment that society subjects homeless people to, they tend to keep to themselves. As such, even when they fall sick, they seldom take the initiative to seek treatment for fear of victimization and discrimination. Therefore, this renders the provision of healthcare to homeless people extraordinarily complicated. The enormous burdens placed on healthcare systems largely result from the refusal by homeless people to seek medication. In addition, professionals find it impossible to keep medical records for such people for various reasons. First, homeless people always seem to be on the move, and professionals find it almost impossible to monitor their movements in order to provide them with medical care. Similarly, when homeless people visit the emergency department for treatment, healthcare professionals have no alternative but to release them back to the streets once treated. This results in a vicious cycle of such visits, which increases costs and expends healthcare resources (Sleet & Francescutti, 2021). Moreover, professionals are sometimes not in a position to provide requisite medication because many homeless people do not have medical insurance. In sum, the state of being homeless poses a prodigious threat to public health, especially during an outbreak of a pandemic like COVID-19.
Relevance of Homelessness to Nursing
Many homeless people, including veterans, may not have the means to access medical care. Therefore, nurses have an enormous responsibility to intervene in such situations and offer requisite medical care to the homeless. This is because they are often the first healthcare providers to encounter homeless people. According to Weber (2019), nurses have the unique capacity to impact the health care of homeless people on account of their unlimited involvement in the health care delivery system. They can reach vulnerable populations not only in hospitals but also by visiting their places of abode. In the same vein, research has shown that the ability of nurses to coordinate care, prevention, and advocacy is on an upward trajectory. For instance, they can now effectively engage homeless people in various educational and skills activities. Often, such engagements result in positive health outcomes and contribute to the reduction of risky behaviors. In sum, to improve the quality of life of homeless people, it is imperative for nurses to relentlessly lead intervention research activities with the homeless. This will also contribute to new knowledge in nursing, which will propel the nursing fraternity in the future.
Current Status of Homelessness
Homelessness in the United States has been escalating due to several factors. For instance, joblessness and the spiraling cost of living have banished many people into homelessness. By extension, the situation is even direr globally, which makes homelessness a global environmental and public health problem. The facts are staggering, and in 2020, close to 600,000 people experienced homelessness in the United States every single night, which represented a 2% rise from 2019 (Sleet & Francescutti, 2021). About half of this population lived in unsheltered locations on the streets or other places unsuitable for human habitation, while the other half had access to sheltered habitations. Veterans comprised 8% of this population; in short, 46,000 veterans struggle with the problem of homelessness. In addition, statistics show that a significant percentage of people of color are homeless. In a word, the problem of homelessness is on the rise, which brings to the fore the need to find lasting solutions that will conclusively stem its steady increase.
Even though the problem of homelessness is complex, relevant authorities should join forces to mitigate its escalation, given its far-reaching consequences. For instance, homelessness presents perpetual public health problems to many communities. In addition, homeless individuals and families grapple with housing insecurity and adverse physical and mental health implications (Fowler et al., 2019). Due to these implications, nations have adopted various mechanisms to deal with the problem. One fundamental strategy that many countries employ is leveraging inter-agency networks. These bring together the concerted efforts of governmental and non-governmental agencies. The partnerships work together to screen and make a response to families and individuals facing housing crises. The agencies employ formal and informal policies to determine eligibility, timing, and funding of resources. For instance, screening helps to identify needy households or individuals and allocate them to the most appropriate and available service (Fowler et al., 2019). In most cases, the agencies use a staircase model that moves vulnerable people from shelters to temporary housing. In addition, they provide services to permanent supportive housing. In a word, using interagency networks significantly helps deal with the complexities of homelessness. For one, the networks pave the way for quicker access to a wide range of supports. By the same token, they provide flexibility to expand and cope with the shifts in demand for services.
Conclusion
The world over, the problem of homelessness is on a steady rise owing to various factors that are similar in nature. First, the spiraling cost of living coupled with escalating unemployment has pushed many people into the streets. This continues to generate increased concern because homeless people get exposed to numerous adversities, including crime and health implications. For instance, many homeless individuals fall prey to rape and forced prostitution, which impacts heavily on their psychological well-being. Further, homeless people become a burden to health care systems for various reasons. To begin with, many are unwilling to seek medical attention when they fall sick for fear of discrimination or lack of medical fees, among other reasons. Second, since most of them return to the streets after treatment, they create a vicious cycle that stretches healthcare resources to the maximum. That said, a dire need to firmly embrace intervention measures exists. In this regard, nurses must take the pole position in coordinating services to the homeless because they are the first professionals that make contact with the vulnerable group. In addition, the interagency networks should continue forging networks to provide the homeless with housing. This will go a long way in conclusively solving the complex problem. However, this cannot see the light of day if political bureaucracy and apportioning blame are allowed to take precedence. Moreover, a review of legislati...